Studded Tires

[firefighter]

I have a few questions about studded tires. Here in wisconsin we can't run them so I dont know much about them. Once you have studs installed, are they perminant. How fast can you drive with them. I've got "Generals" for tires and they got the lil holes for the studs but was wondering if its worth breaking the law for the winter if I can get away with the major benniftes of stutds?

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

They are not permanent, but they are a pain to remove once they are in. If you have already driven on the tires i highly recommend not trying to stud them as the stud holes will be full of small rocks which can wear through the tire once studs are installed causing leaks. The major benifit to studs in for traction on ice.

 

[99RangerBoss]

i got studded tires which came with my 03 edge rwd they are nice if you guys are subject to the thaw freeze conditions of winter but they wear out quickly if you drive on dry pavement and they can pull out if you spin your tires too much i got a leaky stud so im just going to pull it out and put a plug in it but their really nice for icy conditions though.

 

[Ruffinit]

Here in Iowa studded tires are legal from Nov 1 to Apr 1. To do it right, you need to either purchase the tires with them installed (TireRack.com) or have them installed before you put the tires to the pavement. The new studs are Carbide steel so they last a long time.. I have 3 seasons on mine and they still look good. I run them at interstate speed and I run them the full season. You DON'T want to do burnouts with them where they can contact pavement because it'll rip them out. They give exceptional traction especially on hard pack snow and ice.

You state that they're illegal in Wisconsin, but I don't read the law that way, here's an excerpt of the wisconsin law: Read the end of para 1 and para 3.

Wis. Stat. § 347.45 (2003) 347.45. Tire equipment. (1) All automobiles, motor trucks, motor buses, truck tractors, trailers, semitrailers and mobile homes when operated upon a highway shall be completely equipped with tires inflated with compressed air and all other motor vehicles when operated on a highway shall be equipped with tires of rubber or of some material or construction of equal resiliency. No person may operate on a highway any motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer or mobile home having any metal tire in contact with the roadway, except that tire chains of reasonable proportions may be used when required for safety because of snow, ice or other conditions tending to cause a vehicle to skid, and except as provided in sub. (2)(c)(2) No person shall operate on a highway any vehicle, including farm tractors, self-propelled farm implements, implements of husbandry, animal drawn vehicles and road machinery, if such vehicle has on the periphery of any of its tires any block, stud, flange, cleat, spike or other protuberance of any material other that rubber which projects beyond the tread of the traction surface of the tire, except that: (b) Tire chains of reasonable proportions may be used on any vehicle when required for safety because of snow, ice, or other conditions tending to cause a vehicle to skid. (c) A pneumatic tire may have embedded in it wire or wire coils for improving traction on ice and snow, but such tire shall be so constructed that the per cent of wire or wire coils in contact with the roadway does not exceed, after the first 1,000 miles of use or operation, 5% of the total tire area in contact with the roadway. During the first 1,000 miles of use or operation of any such tire the wire or wire coils in contact with the roadway shall not exceed 20% of the total tire area in contact with the roadway. Tires equipped with tungsten carbide studs shall be limited in usage and design as follows: 1. The department shall, by rule, designate the times of year during which any type of tire described in this paragraph may be used. 2. Such tires may be used only on authorized emergency vehicles, school buses, vehicles used to deliver mail and automobiles with out-of-state registrations and then only if such automobile is in the course of passing through this state for a period of not more than 30 days. 3. Such studs shall not project more than one-eighth inch beyond the tread surface of the tire or recutting is an acceptable and safe practice, nor does this subsection apply to regrooving or recutting done in a tire recapping process.

 

[LEVE]

I lived in River Falls Wisconsin for 10 years, having moved from Washington State. In Washington I used studded tires on all my vehicles. I missed not being able to use the studded tires in Wisconsin. The saving grace was that in my area the snow and ice was cleared very quickly from the roads. Studs were rarely really necessary.

That's not true here on the Palouse. Also, there aren't the hills in Wisconsin like in the PNW. Here on the Palouse, I drop 400' in three blocks just to get to downtown. Without studs/chains, I may not be able to get back up the hill to home, and let's not even talk about the mountain passes. It also can take a week to get snow plowed off the more rural roads. Studs, 4WD and a good set of chains are necessary if you live rurally. In some parts of my area there were 20' drifts this winter that were not removed for 3 weeks. I've ended up with about 10' of snowfall in my backyard, so far this winter.

In River Falls I had the tires sipped. IMHO, it was worthless.

Are they illegal in Wisconsin? I didn't want to take the chance of a ticket after talking to a couple of Wisconsin State Trooper. No, there is no law against them, but I never installed the four tires that I took with me from Washington State. They remained in storage till I moved back to eastern Washington and served me well for another 4 winters.

 

[rjppunk]

they're legal out here in vermont but regular snows are better, state goverment did some kind of survey on them and determined the studs reduce traction so they pulled them this year al all gov vehicle like state troopers and what not.

ps is that a lineman in your avatar?

 

[Ruffinit]

Well guys it gets very confusing when you look at the laws. All I can do is point you to where they have the excerpts for studded tires. I would advise looking at the actual law for your state and make up your own interpretation. For an answer to the "rest of the story", some state's agencies pull them because as you will note, Emergency vehicles are (in many cases) allowed to run them year round. On dry pavement they can reduce traction..

Just a month ago we had a bout of freezing rain; it came down in a hurry and the 4 lane around the town here had literally dozens of cars in the ditch, on the shoulders and medians.. NO body including the emergency vehicles could move.. I pushed a car SIDEWAYS by hand across the road with it's brakes on. Only my car with studs could get through this 10 mile stretch of road without traction problems (I was only doing 30). Most states have recognized the occasional need for studded tires and have authorized them at least for the months with the greatest need. At this time I think there are 41 states that authorize use, with Illinios being the one with significant snow-fall that restricts their use.

Here's a decent link:
http://www.snobootz.com/chainlaws.php

Here's a link to a WA state study:
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/471.1.pdf

Here's one to the AK study:
http://www.engr.uaa.alaska.edu/research/upload/StuddedTiresInAlaska.pdf

 

[JohnnyO]

IMO studs are helpful on glare ice and make your traction worse on anything else. I have seen other tests that prove the same thing.
Was in my (first) wife's car once with studs and on a rainy day I slid right through an intersection at a red light. Wasn't going very fast. Lucky no one was coming the other way.
I'm sold on Bridgestone Blizzak's, no studs. Soft rubber compound grips ice pretty well and they are very good in snow and rain. Have a set on the (second) wife's car. It goes as good in snow as my Sport Trac and stops better.
Unless you get a lot of glare ice where you live, I'd say pass on the studs and just get Blizzaks.